Do you live in Cleveland? How about some other market? Or are you just a normal, sympathetic sports fan? If so, you probably hate the Miami Heat!!!

It would make sense to me if you lived in Cleveland or Toronto or if you are a fan of their teams and you have somewhat of a hatred of the Heat. Why the rest of America does, I’m not sure. Is it because they took your favorite player? It can’t be that you’re mad that your team lost Shane Battier or Mike Miller. Battier was in a rental situation in Memphis. While Miller was the equivalent of a traveling homeless man in the NBA after being dealt to constant lottery players Minnesota and Washington in consecutive years.

So it’s definitely not that.

I still don’t get it. Are you mad because they are too good? Whatever the case may be, we here in Seattle, or at least I, am growing slightly more sympathetic-to-their-cause-by-default-because-some-terrible-owner-and-his-aforementioned-BFF-took stole-my-team.

It would seem a little like the Heat are trying to sway the Seattle fan base to jump on their bandwagon until we get a team here. Maybe it’s just me, but that’s what it’s starting to feel like.

First off, you have the fact that the Heat beat the Oklahoma City Raiders in the NBA Finals. They will forever be in my good graces until the day comes, probably in sixty some odd years, when they play the Sonics in the Finals. They didn’t do that to please us in Seattle. They did it so they could win a freaking ring.

Moving on. If I were to ask you to name two of the best former Sonics players still in the league, who don’t play in OKC, who would you say? Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis are probably one and two with Luke Ridnour and Reggie Evans a distant third and fourth. Coincidentally, the Heat have already agreed to terms with… Ray Allen and are supposedly setting their sights on another free agent… Rashard Lewis.

So let’s say that Lewis joins Allen in South Beach. That’s one hell of a three-point attack and one hell of a Seattle connection.

And once again, to reiterate on the title, we in Seattle, are the one fan base where the Heat have failed to become Villain Number One in. For us Northwesterners, Villain Number One A will always be Stern and One B will always be Bennett.

There has been speculation from all of the talking heads and what have you that this is the first of many opportunities for a basketball team in Oklahoma City to win a title.

And now I will explain why that is a load of “horse droppings” (again, trying to stay as clean as possible here).

First of all, Kevin Durant is great. And that’s amazing and all, but where is the offensive depth behind him? Russell Westbrook is also a viable point-scoring option, but after that it might get sketchy. No, I haven’t forgotten James Harden, but he is going to demand a large paycheck when he reaches free agency. And while he is effective, where is the depth after him?

Nick Collison is a nice fourth/fifth post option, and Derek Fisher has his moments, but after that the cupboard is bare. There isn’t a whole lot behind Westbrook and Fisher at the point. While the starting two, Thabo Sefolosha, is defensive, in a word. On the front line, however, well there is a bunch of bargain bin fodder really; Cole Aldrich, Lazar Hayward and Nazr Mohammed aren’t too exciting.

So here is the “pleasant” dilemma OKC has. Shell out a bunch of dough to Harden and lose cash to go after much needed bench help, or let Harden walk and go through a tail spin of sorts. I should also mention that Serge Ibaka will warrant a whole lot of money as well.

The third thing here, and most glaring hole in OKC’s game, is that they have no scoring presence in the post. Take away KD, Westbrook and Harden with three very good defenders like say Dwayne Wade, LeBron James and Shane Battier, then you’ve won the game already.

That leads right into my Finals prediction, Heat over the Thunder in 6.

(Sorry Stern, you already handed Bennett the team, you don’t get to hand him the trophy.)

Oh yeah, spite. That’s the answer, or at least that’s my take on it. You see, not only have we (Seattle) lost our team, but in a matter of years the Raiders are in the NBA Finals. So, not only does that irk me (that’s the PG version), but I should also point out that all of the Sonics’ history is owned by Clay Bennett and his “posse”.

So, assuming you’re still following along after that painfully short lead-in, here is my perception: spite. Yes, spite. Why else would you want to take a team’s history? When Seattle gets a team back (looking at you Stern), I don’t want that team’s history. That’s their history; they accomplished it, and they deserve to have it.

Say your team is gone along with its history. Say you’ve had some Hall of Fame worthy players as well. Now let’s say that those players’ jerseys were never retired and that the history, as stated, is owned by somebody else. Welcome to our world readers who aren’t Northwesterners and/or Sonics fans. Gary Payton’s jersey was never retired, and the ability to retire it now lies in the hands of Clay Bennett. And that’s what bugs me. Bennett isn’t going to retire the Glove’s jersey. Even if he did, GP has said he doesn’t want it retired in OKC. So basically, the jersey is useless in OKC’s hands. And that’s what bugs me. They know that they weren’t going to do anything with the jerseys of guys like Payton and Kemp, not to mention the 1979 NBA Championship Trophy. But they own the history nonetheless. Which seems spiteful to me.

You’ll notice that I don’t refer to OKC as their actual nickname, and more accurately call them the Raiders. They are in fact just that, Raiders, who took the team and the history.

A quick side slant at Bennett and Stern here. Stern named Bennett the head of the NBA Relocation Committee. That might be the worst hiring since the Knicks brought in Isaiah Thomas. Or maybe even worse.

Another thing that is bothersome (again, being PG rated here) is that every time I watch the NBA playoffs, they throw out stats like “OKC’s first playoff (put accomplishment here) in over 15 or 20 years.” That’s also a load of bahooey (again PG), because it wasn’t OKC. It was the Sonics.

And just to clear things up, I’ve got no ill will towards the Thunder players or coaches. Most of them weren’t in Seattle, but the people I do have a problem with are Bennett and his “posse”.

Yes and yes. But I’m delving into it anyways. And don’t think I’m giving up on the playoffs yet, I’m pouring all my energy into jumping on the Spurs bandwagon. I’m not saying this because I’m heavily opposed to the Raiders, which I am by the way. I’m saying it because San Antonio is the most complete and best team left in the playoffs. There, I said it Heat fans.

Enough about San Antonio, let’s get on to the offseason:

Uncertainty: When I say uncertainty I’m aiming right at Sacramento. David Stern needs to do something right for the first time in a of couple decades. He (and I’m sorry King fans, I feel your pain, I really do) needs to move the Kings north to Seattle. I’d like it done quickly, but honestly just the promise in writing that a team is coming at some point is fine. And no one gives a rat’s whatever about my opinion. Case-in-point-but-not-really-just-wanted-to-say-the-words-case-in-point.

It’s also that time of year when the time-old tradition of imploding-playoff-teams-if-they-can’t-work happens. The Lakers are a sure candidate for this after being bludgeoned out of the playoffs by the Raiders. Pau Gasol is a likely trade possibility, as is Andrew Bynum if the right return presents itself (read Dwight Howard). The Boston Celtics are probably next in line at the blowing-up establishment. The Big 3 are obviously in their twilight years and even if they win a title, change could be in order. Atlanta has gone through a lot of one-and-done as well as second-round exits in the last couple years. The underlying-theme-spoiler-alert-WRITTEN-IN-ALL-CAPS theme is that the current group isn’t doing it. Joe Johnson is good, but not good to the point of warranting his contract. Josh Smith supposedly wants out, Marvin Williams is an amnesty option and Kirk Hinrich’s contract is up. Al Horford is the one sure thing on the roster. He’s backed up by a solid Zaza Pachulia and will likely be joined by the potentially-potent Jeff Teague. After those guys, and I’m not kidding you, the rest of the roster is one-year, minimum contract guys. That’s how low the Hawks are on cap space. So now that I’m done rambling about them I’ll give you the short version of the story on all the other possible roster-dynamite-lighters. Utah was a surprise playoff team and could move some of their vets toward a larger youth movement. Dallas might blow it up to get under the cap, and Orlando has the whole Dwight Howard conundrum.

If you haven’t heard (because whenever you Google “NBA free agency” you get a load of pick-your-expletive on the Miami Heat and what not) free agency is almost upon us. That’s right, no LeBrons or Chris Boshs, but very good players none the less. Steve Nash is an option for teams looking for point guard help (just realized that might be the worst lead in on a topic ever). After Nash there’s a guy you might have heard of that kind of took the world by storm and then couldn’t make the tail end of Sportcenter: Jeremy Lin. Not because he played bad, but because he just wasn’t playing at a ridiculous level. In the rest of the free agent pool there are a lot of guys wading (pun intended… eh… not my best) for a big payday. Roy Hibbert could cash in big time after a nice bout of postseason play. Ditto JaVale McGee. Other guys waiting in line for a bigger pay check include Lavoy Allen, Omer Asik, Lopez’s Brook and Robin, Landry Fields, Ersan Ilyasova, Kris Humphries as well as Eric Gordon. Let the speculations begin.

There’s also this little thing where guys get to represent their country called the Olympics coming up, again, not sure if you’ve heard of it. There are plenty of spots available now that Dwight Howard and Derek Rose were lost to injuries. Just thought I’d mention that so you could run to the Y and practice before you try out. Anyways, the loss of Howard is a real blow to the Americans. With a daunting Spanish frontline consisting of the Gasols and Serge Ibalka, it might be a problem without one of the better rim defenders in the league. But the options after him are quite good. Tyson Chandler might be second in everything that Dwight Howard is first in defensively and Kevin Love is a rebounding monster. And I write this as I look at the roster of finalists, you thought Beijing was good? Listen to the potential here, you’ve got almost everybody from ’08. Which means Kobe, LeBron, D-Wade, Chris Paul, Deron Williams. Then there’s the “new guys” Blake Griffin, Kevin Durant, Kevin Love, LaMarcus Aldridge, Andre Iguodala and Russell Westbrook. This is going to be a really good team and a fun one to watch too.

So there it is, enjoy your off-season folks. Well, enjoy it after the finals, but enjoy it none the less. And let’s bring the NBA back to Seattle while we’re at it. (Looking at you Stern.)

Have you been watching the NBA playoffs? Have you seen the Oklahoma City Raiders, as the politically correct people call them? Have you seen how good Kevin Durant is? Have you seen Russell Westbrook go bananas? Have you seen James Harden’s beard? And have you seen Seattle?

I cringe at the fact that the Raiders are so good. Actually, take that back, I do think they are a decent NBA team, it’s just the constant feeling that they could have been in Seattle. Coulda, shoulda, woulda. They could be the talk of Seattle now, instead the talk of Seattle probably includes the word Robbed.

Take that word and flip it into whatever synonym you see fit, because we were robbed.

It continually kills me to see the Raiders succeed. Yes, that’s right; I’m to the point of not mentioning their name.

It’s not as if this is a city like New York, or Dallas where all of the sports teams generally succeed. The Yankees seemingly always make the playoffs. The Giants won the whole thing last year, and the Jets aren’t too bad either. And in Dallas, the Mavericks went from perennial playoff squad to title winners last year. The Rangers have won the last two AL pennants.

The point with that last blip is that the pill is easier to swallow if a team leaves, and if the other professional teams in and around the area are playing at a high level.

Which brings us to our next point. Where have the big playoff moments been in Seattle? The Storm won a title in the WNBA and the Sounders are a really good side, but our last big-nationally-talked-about-you’ll-remember-where-you-where-when-it-happened-moment was when Marshawn Lynch unleashed the beast and went on a smash-and-dash 67 yard run to clinch the win over the defending champion Saints in the playoffs. And that’s coming up on two years ago. Before that it was a Seahawks Super Bowl should-have-been-win that was botched by officiating, and before that we have to go back to “the Double” by Edgar Martinez. And that’s going back a ways.

But to get back on topic, Stern and his joined-at-the-hip buddy Clay Bennett have robbed us of a successful, Big 4 (that’s MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL) team. One that would have taken the city to a whole new level of sports pandemonium. Instead we are forced to sit and watch the Raiders succeed.

Stern and Bennett not only took away our team, they took away a team that is pretty darn good. And one that might be that good for a while.

One of my favorite moments in Sonicgate is when they flash to a kid showing a sign that reads: “Clay Bennett Ruined My Childhood.”

What we should remember here is that it isn’t just Bennett’s fault. The blame falls on others shoulders as well, people like Greg Nickles and Howard Schultz. But the main culprit not named Bennett is Stern.

Isn’t it funny that when we had the Sonics situation on our hands, David Stern barely lifted a finger? And then when we see Sacramento’s arena deal and team security thrown into uncertainty, Stern does almost everything godly possible to keep the team in Sacramento. He practically got them another year in Sacramento. And that’s the problem. He is in love with small markets.

I know everyone and their dog are rooting for the Raiders in the playoffs in and around the Oklahoma area, and the revenue off that is great and all, but wouldn’t you look a lot better if that were in say, Seattle?

Anyways, I wouldn’t go as far as to say that Bennett ruined my childhood. You see, my childhood has been great to this point. But I was in middle school when the Sonics left. I even wrote an essay on it for English class, saying why the Sonics should stay and all that. But that one year in middle school was also the year I really got into basketball. I mean I played it at every waking hour at school when I didn’t have classes. I was, and still am, obsessed with it. And that’s the sad thing. I never got to go to see the Sonics in person and barely saw them on TV. I’ve gone the last Andre-the-Giant-sized handful of years without an NBA team. Because the Sonics left I shifted my attention to the college ranks to get my winter basketball fill. Washington wasn’t amazing at the time so I watched a lot of Gonzaga and Washington State, seeing them both make the NCAA tourney.

And that’s just the thing today. For folks to get their local basketball fix their options are UW, WSU, Gonzaga and Seattle U. That’s it in the state. Seattle U is making the transition back to D1, and WSU and Gonzaga are on the other side of the Cascade Mountains. Not too many people are going to make that trek 2-3 times a week from the Puget Sound area to see basketball. Which leaves us with the Huskies. This is the first team in NCAA history not to make the tourney after winning the regular season championship in a power conference. They lost to South Dakota Stateby 19…

Let me say that again. They lost to South Dakota State by nineteen whole points!

I tend to get caught up in baseball over the summer, so that makes it a bit hard to follow the Storm intensely.

So, thanks to Stern and his little buddy Bennett (and some others) the biggest basketball draw in the Pacific Northwest over the winter and spring is a team that lost to South Dakota State by 19 points. Did I mention it was at home? Maybe if the Raiders win a ring and the NBA doesn’t come back to Seattle soon you very well may have ruined my childhood, Bennett and Stern.

If I asked you who the highest paid player in the entire NBA is you’d probably rattle off answers like LeBron, Kobe Bryant, Derrick Rose or the ghost of Gilbert Arenas’ contract. But no, in fact it is former Seattle SuperSonic great Rashard Lewis.

Yes, Rashard Lewis is being paid 22.7 million dollars next year. What makes it even more perplexing is that he plays for the Washington Wizards, a team that doesn’t really need him and should be angling every asset on their roster towards youth.

Which is what they might be doing with Lewis.

Maybe Ernie Grunfeld and friends were being smart when they didn’t use the amnesty provision on Lewis. Maybe they’ll look like complete geniuses for not doing it. After all, he could turn into the next Tracy McGrady.

T-Mac was dealt in a three-team mess with the Knicks and Kings from the Rockets to New York. Houston also gave up Carl Landry and Joey Dorsey and in return picked up Jordan Hill, a couple first round picks and the right to pay Jared Jeffries checks.

Not too bad right?

Now if you’re Washington, you already have a star player and team “Atlas” of sorts in John Wall. He’s the star; he’s the present and future face of the franchise. You already have a very good center in this league in Nene. And you have a bunch of youth, which is never bad. Some of it will pan out and some of it won’t, but it’s better than trotting out declining vets with bloated contracts.

Going on my theory of throwing almost a dozen young players at the court and seeing which ones stick, it wouldn’t be bad if Washington had more of them to throw at the court.

Now, McGrady was moved to New York for the sole intent of clearing cap space to bring in a max free agent(s). Which ended up being Amare and money to throw at Carmelo after they were robbed by the Nuggets and left with Anthony. The point here is that Tracy McGrady was moved so the team could get under the cap so they could go after a max-contract free agent. It’s not as if there aren’t any potential big-name free agents hitting the market soon. Well, except some guy named Dwight Howard. Maybe you’ve heard of him.

Again the point is that normally teams wouldn’t go rushing out to get an overpaid player whose contract is north of 20 million as a rental, but that is something that might become a reality here.

The big, grand finale-ish, maybe-wrapping-up-point-but-probably-not is that the Wizards are in a prime position to move Lewis to a team who would like to clear cap space for Howard.

These would be teams like the Lakers, Mavericks and Nets.

LA isn’t going to do anything brash and dump Pau Gasol for Lewis, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see them pick him up for the sole purpose of clearing cap space. I’m sure LA would love to be rid of Metta World Peace, Josh “McBobs” McRoberts and Steve Blake’s collective contracts, however, the Wizards aren’t going to make that trade unless David Stern threatens to move them to Omaha. Again, a completely viable option. I would not put it past him. Next thing you know the Magic and Suns will be playing in the Dakotas. All because he likes “small markets”.

Dallas could conceivably deal Shawn Marion, Brendan Haywood and Vince Carter’s unguaranteed contract to Washington, though while Marion would help Washington a lot at the 2 and 3 as well as providing… You know what? A John Wall, Nene, Marion, Jordan Crawford and Jan Vesely starting five would be pretty fun to watch.

The only thing that really prevents the previous trade from happening is Brendan Haywood’s supersized, bloated, terrible, overkill contract. Feel free to add any adjectives that I might have missed there. Maybe it could happen if the Wizards forced the Mavs to take Andray Blatche back. Not sure if Dallas would do that.

Another scenario, this assuming Lamar Odom’s contract isn’t bought out, sees Dallas moving Odom, Marion and Carter for Lewis. Not sure if the Mavs would sacrifice that much wing depth, but to Deron Williams or Dwight Howard, I’d do it.

The trade machine makes it a bit difficult to trade with the newly dubbed Brooklyn Nets seeing as almost all of their contracts are expiring. Still, Lewis to New Jersey for anyone but Deron Williams, Gerald Wallace, Kris Humphries, MarShon Brooks, Brook Lopez or Gerald Green makes sense. I realize that I named almost half the roster there, still those guys are likely safe unless Howard comes to Brooklyn. In that case Lopez would be available.

The point here is that Rashard Lewis and his contract very well could be one of the more sought after commodities on the trade front. He’s gone from maybe the least desirable asset to maybe the most desirable one.

The Mavericks would like to continue to build around Dirk Nowitzki. They would also like to add Deron Williams and Dwight Howard and basically be the Anti-Heat from a style of play perspective.

What the Mavericks do with their cap space remains to be seen. Dwight Howard is likely to play in Orlando for at least the first half of next year while Deron Williams becomes the singular big name on the market.

Dallas could make a Miami-like splash with a superstar player or a Net-like splash that brings in guys like Johan Petro and Travis Outlaw on bloated contracts.

If Mark Cuban and friends want to get the big name free agent this summer (Williams), they need to do a few things. One is to trade Shawn Marion. Marion had a nice year in the Big D and played some lock-down defense. In any other situation the Mavericks would keep him, but with the possibility of pairing the aforementioned superstars with Dirk, he probably has to go.

The Mavs will also likely have to amnesty Brendan Haywood. Haywood wasn’t exactly Tyson Chandler this year, but he was a solid replacement and better than a lot of options. Like Marion, he would probably come back, but he is one of the biggest contractual albatrosses around. He probably has to go.

Vince Carter’s contract isn’t guaranteed next season or the year after, meaning he is also likely to go if the need for money persists. Lamar Odom is also likely out of the picture.

Brandon Wright, Dominquie Jones, Kelena Azubuike and Rodrigue Beaubois represent the only other multi-year contracts on the books. However, all four are young and cheap enough to be moved easily.

Jason’s Kidd and Terry as well as Brian Cardinal, Yi Jianlian, Ian Mahinmi and Delonte West could all land elsewhere next season as the Mavericks roster could be turned upside down.

Now that you’ve digested all of that, here’s what the Mavericks should do to achieve the goal of getting Deron Williams.

Amnesty Brendan Haywood. Sorry, had to be done.

Continually kick themselves for not resigning Tyson Chandler. That’s assuming they have no shot at trading for Dwight Howard (which they don’t) or signing him next offseason (looking iffier by the day).

Trade Shawn Marion, Jones and Beaubois to Golden State for the Warriors first-round pick. This is assuming that Golden State doesn’t land a small forward like Harrison Barnes or Michael Kidd-Gilchrist in the draft. Jones and Beaubois could both use the change of scenery. Jones could play the 3 in a smaller GS lineup, and Beaubois provides the Warriors with a little bit of insurance should Stephen Curry’s ankles give out (no really, at this point it wouldn’t be a total shocker.) Dallas meanwhile gets a top ten pick to go along with the potential of Williams and Dirk.

Cut Vince Carter. I thought briefly about the idea of Marion being dealt to the Warriors for Richard Jefferson, the Mavs resigning Kidd and keeping Carter, but then again that would have been exciting maybe six years ago. Not now.

Trade Azubuike for a second-round pick next year and the year after. Boring, I know. But the Mavs could use some picks, and they did deal Rudy Fernandez and Corey Brewer for a second-round pick in 2014, so maybe this isn’t so bad.

Convince Oklahoma City that Brandon Wright is a cheaper Serge Ibalka and swap the two. This would be phenomenal, but only from a standpoint of seeing Clay Bennett falter, and gasp, take scrutiny in OKC. In which case Stern would probably legally force Kobe and/or LeBron to play in OKC for pocket change. It’s not entirely impossible, but seeing as Stern did some questionable things moving the team there, it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest.

Sign Deron Williams. This is the big one. If the Nets were smart they’d keep Williams. If they can’t however and he signs in Dallas, the Nets should sap whatever they can out of the Mavericks in a sign and trade. Then maybe that pick from Golden State could come in handy…

The Mavericks might do some of these things, and they might not. (Side note, the OKC thing isn’t happening, I just like taking shots at Stern because I’m still irked, putting it nicely there, about what he did to the Sonics.) But all in all Dallas definitely could use some more cap room to go out and get a big name free agent.

The playoffs are almost on us. Some teams are jockeying for playoff seeds while others are eagerly looking toward next year. The waiver-wire/buyout players have landed on their new teams.

So naturally the next big trading time in the NBA is the off-season.

Now the word “off-season” means a couple things: One is that the draft is coming up, and the other is free agency. Of course the one constant with those two events is trading. Which also incidentally happens to be one of the subjects I enjoy writing about most.

The draft always brings surprises. A few years back, the Celtics went from cellar dweller to contender. They traded for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, the latter of which they picked up by trading their top five pick to Seattle.

(Incidentally the player taken with that pick, Jeff Green, Boston owns the rights to, but that’s a whole different story.)

Last season we saw a mix up of slasher/streaky scorers during the draft. Stephen Jackson went to Milwaukee and Corey Maggette went to Charlotte. Both former Warriors were involved in the same trade as well as draft picks that included Tobias Harris, Jimmer Freddette and Bismack Biyombo.

All three were taken in the top 20.

The trading of draft picks is inevitable, with a particularly strong-ish draft this year, there could be a lot of moving and shaking.

This all ties into big name trades because the new trend that teams are going after is young and relatively cheap. For example, if you’re the Lakers, wouldn’t you love to move Pau Gasol for Anthony Davis and another young piece? You get a terrifying duo of Davis and Andrew Bynum, plus another piece. Davis saves you a ton of money instead of Gasol that can be used on other pieces. Now, that’s all theoretical, but it would be pretty bad for the rest of the league.

Now if the Lakers had a first-round pick, then they could use Gasol to shoot up the draft order, or Bynum even. But they don’t, and so we’ll move on to a team that does.

Portland is set up for a huge off-season. After moving Gerald Wallace for a potential top ten pick, they add that to their already probable top twenty pick as well as a gargantuan amount of cap space.

Portland doesn’t have a ton of assets for trading up, but say they move their pick. That will probably be somewhere in the range of 18 or 19 for say a player to add to their nucleus.

Another plus of having salary cap space is that you have cap room to absorb players. Before the Heat went after their Big 3, they moved Daequan Cook and their first rounder to Oklahoma City for their early second rounder.

OKC added a sharpshooter to help out KD and company while also moving up the draft order. And all because they had the salary cap to take advantage of the situation.

Look out for some big names to be moved this off season, one way or another.

Deron Williams is a New Jersey Net. He might be a Brooklyn Net next year. Or he might be on another team. Dwight Howard could too be a New Jersey/Brooklyn Net.

But, and I emphasize but, if Howard doesn’t go to the tri-state area, the Nets could be in some hot water. Without Howard, Williams isn’t going to stay with the Nets. They are terrible with Brook Lopez, MarShon Brooks and Johan Petro’s contract. They aren’t getting any better, unless David Stern awards them every lottery pick this season (not out of the question). Point is that Williams probably isn’t going to stay with their current roster for the next couple years.

It all hinges on Howard. Because, to reiterate the same point, Williams is probably gone if Howard doesn’t come.

Look at New Jersey’s roster without Williams.:

PF Kris Humphries

SG Anthony Morrow

PG Jordan Farmar

C Johan Petro

C Brook Lopez

SG Deshawn Stevenson

SF Damion James

G MarShon Brooks

PF Shelden Williams

G Sundita Gaines

F Jordan Williams

SG Keith Bogans

F Gerald Wallace

These days in the NBA, and generally all professional sports, there isn’t a biggest loser team. There is no bad team laden with terrible contracts. Granted this team doesn’t have a lot of bad contracts, but you might be looking at a team with a not so bright future with the Nets. Unless the aforementioned Stern-gives-the-Nets-all-the-lottery-picks. You’ve got Brook Lopez, Wallace, some role players and a couple iffy contracts.

If the Nets let all their potential free agents walk (including Williams), you’re looking at next year’s team minus free agent signings and draft picks being Anthony Morrow, Jordan Farmar, Johan Petro, Damion James, MarShon Brooks, Wallace and Jordan Williams. That is a decent second unit-and-change at best along with Wallace. So go ahead and sell season tickets with that.

Deron Williams also was acquired for, get this: Derrick Favors, Devin Harris, the Enes Kanter draft pick, and the Warriors first rounder this year. That’s another potentially big piece. Keep the Bigs along with Lopez and another lottery pick? I’m not saying I would stand in line for the bandwagon, but that isn’t too shabby for a squad that recently rolled out some iffy squads.

Who wouldn’t want those guys along with Brook Lopez, Wallace and Brooks instead of Williams leaving.? Even if Williams stayed, I’d rather have Harris and two potentially, really good bigs instead of possibly four or five years of D-Will and no other superstar.

So to reiterate again, we have reality, which is a potentially lame duck in Deron Williams and a lot of iffy assets. Or we have fantasy which is Kanter, Favors, another lottery pick and Devin Harris.

The bright future that the Nets would like isn’t there. Unless Williams leaves and David Stern magically makes all the Nets’ contracts expire after the season. (Again completely plausible. Stern is probably a nice guy, but he can be a little biased towards certain people and cities. Cough, Clay Bennett, Cough, Oklahoma City).

(Had to get my annual Stern jab in there.)

Say this situation happens next year, Dwight Howard is traded to the Lakers, or the Bulls or any team frankly, anywhere but New Jersey. Let’s also say that Howard signs an extension with team x. The Nets aren’t going to let Williams walk, because he will if Howard goes elsewhere, without getting anything back. The team will try to get some pieces out of him. Whether that be picks or young pieces.

The stupid thing would be to move Williams frantically for a big expiring contract and an iffy piece.

The smart thing would be to feel out the market and take the best deal possible.

The sad thing (and looking like the likely thing) is that the Nets might lose all those potentially very good pieces for an extended rental.